Writing Casket with Steel-Cut Decoration, Biedermeier, early 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Small writing casket with thuja root veneer and surrounding steel-cut decoration. The casket is lockable and features an interior compartment for an inkwell, blotting sand, and a qui...
Steel
$1,380Sale Price|20% Off
Biedermeir Coffee Table or Writing Desk in Walnut, Denmark
Located in Prato, Tuscany
We kindly suggest you read the whole description, because with it we try to give you detailed technical and historical information to guarantee the authenticity of our objects. Danis...
Walnut
19th Century Biedermeier Chest Of Drawers/ Secretary Desk, Austria ca. 1830
Located in Lichtenberg, AT
The traditional hand polished shellac finish as well as the artfully made brass fittings finalize this exceptional antique Biedermeier secretary desk/ writing commode/ chest of drawe...
Brass
19th Century Austrian Biedermeier Secretary, Cherry and Hungarian Ash, c. 1830
Located in Greven, DE
Writing desk with an interesting drawer layout, standing on round feet with columns on top.
Ash, Cherry
Biedermeier Mahogany Ebonized and Parcel-Gilt Globe Form Work Desk
Located in Queens, NY
Biedermeier (19th Century) globe-form work desk with a mahogany structure that opens to reveal a several small compartments, with parcel gilt and ebonized detail, with applied lions'...
Wood, Mahogany, Giltwood
The authentic Biedermeier furniture on 1stDibs is representative of the first modern European decorative style not dictated by the tastes of the aristocracy. Following the Napoleonic wars, a growing, wealthy urban middle class in the German-speaking states of Central Europe began to demand rights and privileges once granted only to nobles. To avoid trouble, the upwardly striving confined their political discussions to one another’s homes. And so the salon was born.
Cabinetmakers in cities such as Vienna, Berlin and Mainz began to offer goods that reflected the tastes and needs of the new class. The makers of Biedermeier chairs, tables and other furniture used little or no gilding, silver hardware or other lavish ornament. Ebonized trims are common on Biedermeier cabinetry, and neoclassical elements — lyre-shaped chair splats, carved scrollwork, table supports shaped like Greek columns. But the strongest aesthetic statement came from the wood — richly-grained, honey-colored, often book-matched veneers of walnut and fruitwood.
There are two iconic Biedermeier furniture forms, both made to outfit rooms designed for conversation. One is the sofa, deeply upholstered with a strong, architectural wooden frame. The second is the circular pedestal table, which stood at the center of the room, offering a surface on which to place coffee and cake services; or to roll out a map, or sketch out ideas on paper.
“Biedermeier” was originally a derogatory term — it derives from the pen names of two German magazine writers who mocked bourgeois manners. Looking at the elegant and refined antique, new and vintage Biedermeier furniture offered on 1stDibs, that is now an amusing irony.
Vintage desks and writing tables span centuries of design. The writing table came first, a simple surface built for correspondence, while the drawered desk followed as record-keeping at home and in the office grew more demanding.
Styles to Know
Any desk at least 20 years old falls under this broader vintage category. If you want a tapered-leg, mid-century look specifically, browse mid-century modern desks; Louis XVI and Art Deco secretary desks bridge the writing-table and desk forms. A vintage table lamp adds task lighting to either.
How to Choose the Right Vintage Piece
Writing tables often carry little to no storage of their own, so a separate file cabinet or desk organizer may be worth planning for, alongside a close look at the surface dimensions against the space available. Each piece comes from a vetted 1stDibs seller, with era, designer and condition detailed, and every purchase is covered by the 1stDibs Promise.